The neighborhood Italian joint is a cornerstone of the dining scene in countless cities across the country, and Italian cuisine is the staple of home cooks. But when you feel like making something as ubiquitous as bolognese, how can you know which recipe to follow? Rather than abandoning you to trawl the Internet’s infinite cookbook for carbonara that turns out gloppy, or lasagna that always falls apart, we turned to a panel of experts and asked them to curate a list of the best recipes for 25 quintessential Italian dishes.

For this edition, we looked to people who love Italian cuisine, including a culinary historian, a blogger from the Tuscan countryside, and a journalist who has dedicated hours to interviewing Italian chefs in their home kitchens. From this brain trust, we leared that minestrone is not simply a soup made of leftovers, and that Marcella Hazan can do no wrong when it comes to pasta.

Instead of taking a chance on a random pesto, read on for recipes you can count on for gelato, spaghetti, pork roast, risotto, and other essentials of Italian home-cooking, chosen by the following experts:

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Best recipe:Lidia BastianichLinda Prospero says: Here is a great recipe from Lidia Bastianich, one of my all-time favorite cooks, not just because her recipes are easy and delicious, but she's just a really nice person who has a family that exudes love for each other and for good food. This recipe for pasta with roasted tomatoes is a terrific recipe for summertime when you have plum tomatoes fresh from the garden. The roasting really brings out a richness that you can't get any other way.

Arista (Tuscan-style pork roast)

Best recipe:GourmetDomenica Marchetti says: Arista is a simple pork roast, seasoned liberally with garlic and rosemary, in the classic Tuscan style. It’s a perfect dinner party main course, and it has been the centerpiece at many of mine. This is a good, basic recipe that you can tweak as you like (I add crushed fennel, sage, and lemon peel). I’ve been making it since it was published in the printed version of Gourmet (RIP!) in 2001.

Cacio e Pepe

Lasagne

Best recipe:Gourmet TravellerKristina Gill says:Le lasagne (referring to the pasta in the dish) is a classic baked pasta recipe, which uses ragu at its heart, a must-have recipe. Lasagne are paper-thin sheets of pasta, layered with ragu, and besciamella. No mozzarella in there! I love this because when you slice your fork into it it all oozes together.

Pasta Con Le Sarde a Mare

Best recipe:Labna.itGiulia Scarpaleggia says:Pasta con le sarde, pasta with fresh sardines, is a typical Sicilian food. During wartime, when fish was very expensive, Italian women who could not afford fish would prepare traditional pasta con le sarde omitting the sardines: that’s how pasta con le sarde a mare, meaning “pasta with sardines in the sea,” was invented.

Jim Lahey’s Pizza Bianca

Best recipe:Smitten KitchenCara Eisenpress says: This pizza is about the dough—Jim Lahey’s no-knead dough—and the topping: olive oil and herbs. That’s it. The dough is not hard to make, though it does require patience. After you cook it in a hot oven, the crust gets charred but the dough stays slightly chewy, like the crust of the best pizza I’ve eaten in Rome.

Marc Vetri's Risotto Milanese

Best recipe:SaveurCara Eisenpress says: Saffron tints Milan’s signature rice dish a pale yellow and makes it very fragrant. The proportion of saffron (not much) to Parmesan (a whole lot) makes this recipe for risotto Milanese simultaneously light and rich—it's a good reminder that not all Italian cuisine has to feature red sauce.

Pasta fresca all’uovo (fresh egg pasta)

Best recipe: GialloZafferanoDomenica Marchetti says: If you are really, truly serious about Italian cooking, you need to roll up your sleeves and make fresh pasta. The more you do it the easier it becomes, and the pasta you make at home will always be better than the “fresh” pasta found in the refrigerated case at your local gourmet shop. This post on GialloZafferano (sort of like an Italian Allrecipes.com), with photos and a video, takes you through the steps, from mixing the dough on the countertop to cutting a variety of shapes. (The video is in Italian but includes a link to an English translation.)

Mario Batali's Olive Oil Gelato

Best recipe:Real SimpleCara Eisenpress says: Gelato is simultaneously more and less rich than American ice cream. There’s more cream than milk, and traditionally it’s churned to be denser than our stuff. Mario Batali’s gelato at Otto and Babbo—including this this olive oil rendition—is life-changing for its mouth feel and the adventurous flavors.

Pesto

Best recipe:Marcella HazanLinda Prospero says: Marcella Hazan is the doyenne of Italian cooking from way back, and her recipe for pesto alla genovese is what I've been using for decades. She's a no-nonsense kind of cook, and this recipe is straightforward with no gimmicks, like all her recipes. Use only the freshest ingredients, because each one matters and this recipe highlights nature's best. You'll want to grow your own basil or buy it from a reliable farmer's market to really get the ultimate flavor.

Coniglio alla cacciatora (Hunter's stew)

Best recipe:Emiko DaviesGiulia Scarpaleggia says: If you have ever had the chance to enjoy a lunch on an Italian farm, this is for sure one of the recipes that you must have appreciated, tasty and hearty. Rabbit is one of the favorite meats in Tuscany, and this is undeniably one of the best way to cook it.

Risotto al funghi

Best recipe:Giada de LaurentiisKristina Gill says: Learning the basics of a risotto is essential for Italian cooking. From there, you can make your own adaptations. One of my favorite is porcini mushroom risotto. This recipe by Giada De Laurentis is a good one, as long as you forget the gorgonzola!

Arancini

Best recipe:The Italian DishCara Eisenpress says: Waste-not Italians stuff balls of leftover risotto with vegetables, cheese, or meat sauce, form them into balls, and fry them. The technique takes some practice, but this recipe simplifies the process with step-by-step photos of forming rice and filling into balls.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Best recipe:Leanne KitchenKristina Gill says: This is a calorie- and cholesterol-laden recipe, but if you eat it as a treat and not a staple, it's hard to beat. Every time I eat it, I'm reminded of how good pepper, eggs, cheese, and bacon taste together.

Sugo Finto (fake ‘meat’ sauce)

Best recipe:Juls' KitchenDomenica Marchetti says: If you’re making homemade pasta (and even if you aren’t) you need to have a go-to recipe for good sugo (sauce). I like this one that I found on Tuscan food blogger and cookbook author Giulia Scarpaleggia’s site, Juls’ Kitchen. It’s sort of a vegetarian ragu, with onions, carrots, celery, assertive herbs, and a splash of red wine. It has a lot of character and it’s a great example of Italian “cucina povera” (poor man’s cooking), in which those humble ingredients are transformed into a robust sauce.

Pasta alla Norma

Best recipe:Serious EatsCara Eisenpress says: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt traveled to Italy to find out what the deal with this eggplant pasta was, since it always seemed so soggy in the States. Turns out, the quality of the dish depends on crisping up your eggplants slowly in olive oil rather than cooking them quickly. He also recommends skipping the ricotta salata we get here and opting for a more “funky” cheese.

Minestrone

Best recipe:Frank FarielloDomenica Marchetti says: Most people think that minestrone is just an opportunity to empty out your fridge and pantry. But, in fact, there is a technique to making good minestrone and this recipe, from Frank Fariello, shows it to you step-by-step. Once you know the basics you can make countless variations. It’s a dish that can be served at any time of year, using whatever is in season.

Tomato Sauce III (with onions and butter)

Best recipe:Marcella HazanCathy Barrow says: Everyone should make this. [Ed note: Tons of bloggers have. It went viral.]

Brandade de Morue

Best recipe:Rachel EatsCara Eisenpress says: Salt cod, or baccala, originally was a way of preserving fish. This recipe is genius because it has a lengthy introduction explaining everything you ever wanted to know about salt cod and debunking any fears you might have had about working with it. The end result here is a mild, creamy, addictive dip to be spread on bread as you sip wine late on Saturday afternoons.

Pasta Bolognese

Best recipe:Anne BurrellCara Eisenpress says: Anne Burrell’s rich bolognese uses lots of browned vegetables, ground meat, and a full bottle of red wine to build flavor. The recipe calls for tomato paste but no canned tomatoes at all. As the wine cooks over, the flavors of the meat, vegetables, and tomatoes deepen. The end result overflows with umami and richness.

Caponata

Best recipe:The Italian DishCara Eisenpress says: Sweet, sour, and pungent are the flavors of this southern Italian condiment, eaten by the Sicilians, who are crazy for eggplant. This recipe has you roast the eggplant cubes before adding them to the tomato, caper, onion, and olive sauce. Caponata is meant to be an olive-oil-rich dish, but this move helps keep the greasiness in check.

Italian Spinach Crespelles

Best recipe:Marcella HazanCathy Barrow says: A boyfriend once accused me of serving Stouffers, he was so amazed I made these myself. That was 30 years ago.

Poached Pear and Polenta Cake

Best recipe:Emiko DaviesDomenica Marchetti says: After dinner I prefer a piece of crostata, a couple of biscotti (with a glass of Vin Santo), or a slice of rustic torta, like this amor polenta, from Emiko Davies. It’s a traditional cake from Lombardy, with a tender, fragrant crumb. Emiko’s adaptation has poached pears embedded within, a little touch of genius, and it is dusted with confectioners’ sugar, almost always preferable to frosting, in my opinion.

Pastiera Napoletana

Best recipe:Life Love FoodGiulia Scarpaleggia says: A traditional Easter cake from Naples, unmissable and fragrant with orange blossom water. It takes some time to make this cake from scratch, though is worth the effort—it will easily become a cheered tradition in your family.

Tiramisu

Best recipe:GourmetKristina Gill says: What's not to like about mascarpone, coffee, and liquor?

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